Reading Shadow Kiss
by Rosieposie2000
Summary: What happens when the gang gets a book called "Shadow kiss"? How will the gang react to Rose's thoughts? But what happens when the book's gone and a forgotten enemy returns? Curious? Then give my story a try. Enjoy reading and pls R&R! I love ya, guys
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, I know this has been done before, but most people don't finish writing them. So, just I decided to start. :) This takes place after LS. The gang gets the book and reads…**

**DISCLAIMER: I unfortunately have to admit that I don't own VA…*sobs* It belongs to the awesome Richelle Mead. **

**I hope you like it.**

**Enjoy!**

I was vaguely aware of someone banging on my door, but I was busy listening to my ipod. So, I didn't answer.

"ROSE! Let me IN!" someone yelled, but I ignored it.

Then Lissa screamed in my head. "Open this fucking door!" Then it occurred to me that the mysterious person that tries to break my door in half was Lissa. I walked over to the door and unlocked it.

"What?" I asked.

"You have to come with me to Alberta's office!"

"Why?"

"I don't know but she said it's important." Lissa replied.

"Okay, let's go!"

When we arrived at her office she already expected us.

"Ah, there you are Miss Hathaway. I just got this package and it's for you."

I was puzzled. A package for me? Why? She handed it to me.

"Thank you." I said.

We went to my room and I opened it. It was a book. Who the fuck would send me a book, I asked myself astonished.

"What's this? I asked, holding it up.

"Dunno, but there's a note."

She picked it up and started to read.

_Dear Rose, _

_I know you don't know me, but I know you. This book is important. It's the third book of a series and it's called "Shadow kiss._

_I would like the following people to be present, Abe Mazur, Guardian Janine Hathaway, Guardian Dimitri Belikov, Guardian Alberta Petrova, Guardian Edison Castile, Queen Vasilissa Dragomir, Lord Christian Ozera, Lord Adrian Ivashkov, Lady Mia Rinaldi, Sydney Sage and you of cores. I assure you will have a lot of fun reading it. _

_Richelle Mead_

"Okay, let's read it" Lissa said enthusiastic.

We texted everybody to come and all of them showed up. We told them from the book and from the mysterious Richelle Mead.

"I will start reading." Lissa exclaimed. We all nodded in agreement and she started reading.

**Rose knows it is forbidden to love another guardian.**

"Really?" I asked sarcastically. They laughed.

"Omg the book is about you Rose" Lissa said.**  
****Her best friend, Lissa–the last Dragomir princess–must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken…**

That got an eyebrow raise from everyone and a sarcastically comment from Chrissie.

"Ya Rose, I wonder what rules are meant to be broken," he said.**  
****Then a strange darkness begins to grow in Rose's mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing near to the Academy's iron gates.**

I shuddered.**  
****The immortal undead are closing in, and they want vengeance for the lives Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most…but will her choice mean that only one can survive?****  
**"Now you have the honor to read the first chapter. Lissa said to Chrissie.**  
****Chapter One****  
****His fingertips slid along my back, **

"Finally, it's getting interesting." Adrian said with a smirk.

My mom shot Dimitri a death glare and Chrissie said." I don't want to hear this.**"  
****applying hardly any pressure, yet sending shock waves over my flesh. Slowly, slowly, his hands moved across my skin, down the sides of my stomach to finally rest in the curves of my hips.****  
****Just below my ear, I felt his lips press against my neck, followed by another kiss just below it, then another, then another…**

"Oh gosh, I really don't want to hear about this, make it stop!" Chrissie kept saying.**  
****His lips moved from my neck toward my cheek and then finally found my mouth. We kissed, wrapping ourselves closer together. My blood burned within me, and I felt more alive in that moment than I ever had. I loved him, loved Christian so much that–**

"What?" everyone exclaimed.

"You'll see, just wait" I said.**  
****Christian?****  
****Oh no.**

"And again,"I started and book-me finished my sentence.**  
****Some coherent part of me immediately realized what was happening–and boy, was it pissed off. The rest of me, however, was still actually living in this encounter, experiencing it as though I was the one being touched and kissed.**

Lissa and Chrissie's faces had gone beet red. It was hilarious and now it was my turn to laugh at Chrissie**.**

**That part of me couldn't break away. I'd merged too much with Lissa, and for all intents and purposes, this was happening to me.****  
****No, I told myself sternly. It's not real–not for you. Get out of there.****  
****But how could I listen to logic when every nerve of my body was being set on fire?**

Lissa laughed nervously.**  
****You aren't her. This isn't your head. Get out.****  
****His lips. There was nothing in the world right now except his lips.****  
****It's not him. Get out.****  
****The kisses were the same, exactly as I remembered with him…****  
****No, it's not Dimitri. Get out!****  
****Dimitri's name was like cold water hitting me in the face. I got out.**

He raised an eyebrow but I didn't answer. Damn, I have to learn how he does this.**  
****I sat upright in my bed, suddenly feeling smothered. I tried kicking off the covers but mostly ended up entangling my legs even more. **

"Haha!" Eddie said. I shot him a look that could have killed and he instantly shut up.

**My heart beat hard in my chest, and I tried to take deep breaths to steady myself and return to my own reality.****  
****Times sure had changed.****  
****Lissa nodded in agreement.****  
****A long time ago, Lissa's nightmares used to wake me from sleep. Now her sex life did.****  
****To say the two were a little different would be an understatement. I'd actually gotten the hang of blocking out her romantic interludes–at least when I was awake. This time, Lissa and Christian had (unintentionally) outsmarted me.**

"I always knew I was smarter than you even if I don't try to" Chrissie said smiling.

"Oh, shut up!" I said.

**In sleep, my defenses were down, allowing strong emotions to pass through the psychic link that connected me to my best friend. This wouldn't have been a problem if the two of them had been in bed like normal people–and by "being in bed," I mean "asleep."**

Alberta nodded in agreement and Adrian said."Hey Liss, I always thought you were a good girl" At this Lissa blushed like crazy.

**"God," I muttered, sitting up and swinging my legs over the side of the bed. My voice was muffled in a yawn. Couldn't Lissa and Christian have seriously kept their hands off each other until waking hours? **

"Jealous?" Chrissie commented. **  
****Worse than being woken up, though, was the way I still felt. Sure, none of that making out had actually happened to me. It hadn't been **_**my**_** skin being touched or **_**my**_** lips being kissed. Yet my body seemed to feel the loss of it nonetheless.**

"Yep, defiantly jealous!" he replied to his own comment with a smirk on his face.**  
****It had been a very long time since I'd been in that kind of situation. I ached and felt warm all over. It was idiotic, but suddenly, desperately, I wanted someone to touch me–even just to hold me. **

"Come here, little dhampir. I'll hold you." Adrian said impersonate book-me. I crossed the few feet that separated us and punched him. "Ow!" he cried out and I smirked.

"Continue Chrissie." I said.

**But definitely not Christian.**

"Sure not" I scoffed.**  
****The memory of those lips on mine flashed back through my mind, how they'd felt, and how my sleepy self had been so certain it was Dimitri kissing me. **

Well, shit happens, I thought.**  
****I stood up on shaky legs, feeling restless and…well, sad. Sad and empty. Needing to walk off my weird mood, I put on a robe and slippers and left my room for the bathroom down the hall. I splashed cool water on my face and stared in the mirror. The reflection looking back at me had tangled hair and bloodshot eyes. I looked sleep-deprived, but I didn't want to go back to bed. I didn't want to risk falling asleep quite yet. I needed something to wake me up and shake away what I'd seen.**

"Aw, couldn't handle it, Rosie?" Chrissie teased.

"Actually," Rose shot back. " I could, but I didn't want to see your smallness."

"Burned!" Eddie exclaimed, giving Rose a high-five.**  
****I left the bathroom and turned toward the stairwell, my feet light on the steps as I went downstairs. The first floor of my dorm was still and quiet.**

"Already trying to break the rules, little dhamphir?"Adrian asked.

"That's my daughter." Abe said smiling.

**It was almost noon–the middle of the night for vampires, since they ran on a nocturnal schedule.**

"Why are you explaining things you already know?"Mia asked puzzled.

"She wants to brag with her knowledge." Chrissie suggested.

"Just shut up!" I responded**.**

**Lurking near the edge of a doorway, I scanned the lobby. It was empty, save for the yawning Moroi man sitting at the front desk. He leafed halfheartedly through a magazine, held to consciousness only by the finest of threads. He came to the magazine's end and yawned again. **

My mom shock her head in disbelieve.

**Turning in his revolving chair, he tossed the magazine on a table behind him and reached for what must have been something else to read.**

"He shouldn't have been distracted." Alberta said.  
**While his back was turned, I darted past him toward the set of double doors that opened outside. Praying the doors wouldn't squeak, I carefully opened one a crack, just enough to slip through. Once outside, I eased the door shut as gently as possible. No noise. At most, the guy would feel a draft. Feeling like a ninja,**

"I knew it. I have always known it. Deep down in your arrogant and sarcastic soul you wanted to be a ninja." Mia said.

"You're no ninja," Chrissie mumbled.

"What was that, Sparky?" I asked with a smirk on my face.

He ignored me and continued reading.

**I stepped out into the light of day.**

**Cold wind blasted me in the face,****  
**Sydney shuddered.**  
****but it was exactly what I needed. Leafless tree branches swayed in that wind, clawing at the sides of the stone dorm like fingernails. The sun peeped at me from between lead-colored clouds, further reminding me that I should be in bed and asleep. **

"**She finally realizes." Mom scoffed. **

**Squinting at the light, I tugged my robe tighter and walked around the side of the building, toward a spot between it and the gym that wasn't quite so exposed to the elements. The slush on the sidewalk soaked into the cloth of my slippers, but I didn't care.**

"Yeah, typical Rose." Eddie said.

******Yeah, it was a typically miserable winter day in Montana, but that was the point. The crisp air did a lot to wake me up and chase off the remnants of the virtual love scene. Plus, it kept me firmly in my own head. Focusing on the cold in my body was better than remembering what it had felt like to have Christian's hands on me.**

"So you would rather freeze to death than feel Christian's hand on you?" Mia asked.

"Yup!" I said popping the "p". Lissa shock her head at that but Chrissie continued.**  
****Standing there, staring off at a cluster of trees without really seeing them, I was surprised to feel a spark of anger at Lissa and Christian. It must be nice, I thought bitterly, to do whatever the hell you wanted. Lissa had often commented that she wished she could feel my mind and experiences the way I could feel hers. The truth was, she had no idea how lucky she was. She had no idea what it was like to have someone else's thoughts intruding on yours, someone else's experiences muddling yours. She didn't know what it was like to live with someone else's perfect love life when your own was nonexistent. She didn't understand what it was like to be filled with a love so strong that it made your chest ache–a love you could only feel and not express. Keeping love buried was a lot like keeping anger pent up, I'd learned. It just ate you up inside until you wanted to scream or kick something.****No, Lissa didn't understand any of that.**

I felt bad about thinking that and I could see the guilt on Lissa's face.**  
****She didn't have to. She could carry on with her own romantic affairs, with no regard for what she was doing to me.****  
****I noticed then that I was breathing heavily again, this time with rage. The icky feeling I'd felt over Lissa and Christian's late-night hookup was gone. It had been replaced by anger and jealousy, **

"The darkness!" Lissa and I said in unison.

**feelings born of what I couldn't have and what came so easily to her. I tried my best to swallow those emotions back; I didn't want to feel that way toward my best friend.****  
****"Are you sleepwalking?" a voice asked behind me.**

"Busted!" Eddie and Chrissie exclaimed at the same time.**  
****I spun around, startled. Dimitri stood there watching me, looking both amused and curious.**

"I was amused and curious." He said and kissed my forehead.

**It would figure that while I was raging over the problems in my unfair love life, the source of those problems would be the one to find me.**

All of them smirked at that.**  
****I hadn't heard him approach at all. So much for my ninja skills.**

"There were never any to begin with." Chrissie teased.

"I knew they would never work out!" Mia exclaimed.

I glanced at both of them and they looked down, not meeting my gaze.

**And honestly, would it have killed me to pick up a brush before I went outside? Hastily, I ran a hand through my long hair, knowing it was a little too late. It probably looked like an animal had died on top of my head.**

"Then it would look like it looks now." Chrissie teased and I punched him as response. **  
****"I was testing dorm security," I said. "It sucks."**

"That's the true Rose-Hathaway response." Lissa said smiling.**  
****A hint of a smile played over his lips. The cold was really starting to seep into me now, and I couldn't help but notice how warm his long leather coat looked. I wouldn't have minded wrapping up in it.****As though reading my mind, he said, "You must be freezing. Do you want my coat?" ****  
****I shook my head, deciding not to mention that I couldn't feel my feet.**

"Yeah," Dimitri said. " I would have given you my coat for sure if you had told me that."**  
****"I'm fine. What are you doing out here? Are you testing security too?"**

"Ya. I'm sure he's there to test security, too." Abe said sarcastically.**  
****"I am security.****This is my watch."**

"Burned!" Eddie said.

**Shifts of school guardians always patrolled the grounds while everyone else slept. Strigoi, the undead vampires who stalked living Moroi vampires like Lissa, didn't come out in sunlight, but students breaking rules–**

Everyone in the room looked at me.**  
****say, like, sneaking out of their dorms-**

"Always worked." I said.

**were a problem night and day.**

"Looks like you just got caught." Chrissie smirked.

"Thanks for saying the obvious." I shot back.

**"Well, good work," I said. "I'm glad I was able to help test your awesome skills.**

"True Rose-style." Sydney said.**  
****I should be going now."**

"I have a feeling you're not gonna get away that easily." Adrian said.**  
****"Rose–" Dimitri's hand caught my arm, and despite all the wind and chill and slush, a flash of heat shot through me.****He released me with a start, as though he too had been burned. "What are you really doing out here?"****He was using the stop fooling around voice, so I gave him as truthful an answer as I could. "I had a bad dream. I wanted some air."**

" You call that abad dream," Eddie said, shaking with laughter. In fact everyone was laughing expect Lissa and Chrissie who looked extremely embressed.**  
****"And so you just rushed out. Breaking the rules didn't even cross your mind–and neither did putting on a coat."**

"That's me," I said.**  
****"Yeah," I said. "That pretty much sums it up."****  
****"Rose, Rose." This time it was his exasperated voice. "You never change. Always jumping in without thinking."**

That's not true, I thought.**  
****"That's not true," I protested. "I've changed a lot."**

Everyone nodded.**  
****The amusement on his face suddenly faded, his expression growing troubled. He studied me for several moments. Sometimes I felt as though those eyes could see right into my soul. "You're right. You have changed."****  
****He didn't seem very happy about the admission. He was probably thinking about what had happened almost three weeks ago, when some friends and I had gotten ourselves captured by Strigoi. It was only through sheer luck that we'd managed to escape–and not all of us had gotten out.**

Eddie face had gone extremely depressed and the air was tensed at this part.**  
****Mason, a good friend and a guy who'd been crazy about me, had been killed, and part of me would never forgive myself for it, even though I'd killed his murderers.****  
****It had given me a darker outlook on life. Well, it had given everyone here at St. Vladimir's Academy a darker outlook, but me especially. Others had begun to notice the difference in me. I didn't like to see Dimitri concerned, though, so I played off his observation with a joke.****  
****"Well, don't worry. My birthday's coming up. As soon as I'm eighteen, I'll be an adult, right?**

"No," Janine said.**  
****I'm sure I'll wake up that morning and be all mature and stuff."****  
****As I'd hoped, his frown softened into a small smile. "Yes, I'm sure. What is it, about a month?"****  
****"Thirty-one days," I announced primly.**

"Really Rose? You were counting?" Sydney asked in disbelieve. **  
****"Not that you're counting."****  
****I shrugged, and he laughed.****  
****"I suppose you've made a birthday list too. Ten pages? Single-spaced? Ranked by order of priority?"**

Everyone leaned in, waiting for Rose's answer.**  
****The smile was still on his face. It was one of the relaxed, genuinely amused ones that were so rare to him.**

"Wow, Belikov can smile," Adrian faked surprise that made him earn a glare from Dimitri.**  
****I started to make another joke, but the image of Lissa and Christian flared into my mind again. That sad and empty feeling in my stomach returned. Anything I might have wanted–new clothes, an iPod, whatever–suddenly seemed trivial. What did material things like that mean compared to the one thing I wanted most of all? God, I really had changed.**

"Yes,you have." Everybody said**  
****"No," I said in a small voice. "No list."****  
****He tilted his head to better look at me, making some of his shoulder-length hair blow into his face. His hair was brown, like mine, but not nearly as dark. Mine looked black at times. He brushed the unruly strands aside, only to have them immediately blow back into his face. "I can't believe you don't want anything. It's going to be a boring birthday."****  
****"It doesn't matter," I said instead.**

"Way to ruin the moment," Eddie said.

"Ya you where having this whole joking moment with a guy who never smiles and you ruin it. Shame on you," Chrissie said agreeing with Eddie.  
**"What do you–" He stopped. He understood.****  
****He always did. It was part of why we connected like we did, in spite of the seven-year gap in our ages. We'd fallen for each other last fall when he'd been my combat instructor. As things heated up between us, we'd found we had more things to worry about than just age.**

"Heated up between you two?" my mom and dad asked. "So what exactly did you do?"

"Yeah Rose, what did you do?" Chrissie teased.

"Continue reading Chrissie," I said.

"No, no I think you should really have this conversation with your parents, it's much needed," he replied. I shot him a death glare and thankfully he started reading again.

******We were both going to be protecting Lissa when she graduated, and we couldn't let our feelings for each other distract us when she was our priority.**

Lissa looked guilty again.**  
****Of course, that was easier said than done because I didn't think our feelings for each other were ever really going to go away. We'd both had moments of weakness, moments that led to stolen kisses or saying things we really shouldn't have. After I'd escaped the Strigoi, Dimitri had told me he loved me and had pretty much admitted he could never be with anyone else because of that.**

Abe shot Dimitri death glares. **  
****Yet, it had also become clear that we still couldn't be together either, and we had both slipped back into our old roles of keeping away from each other and pretending that our relationship was strictly professional.**

"How it should be,"mom murmured.  
**In a not-so-obvious attempt to change the subject, he said, "You can deny it all you want, but I know you're freezing. Let's go inside. I'll take you in through the back."**

"Sexual innuendo!" Adrian exclaimed**.**

"Shut up!"**  
****I couldn't help feeling a little surprised. Dimitri was rarely one to avoid uncomfortable subjects. In fact, he was notorious for pushing me into conversations about topics I didn't want to deal with. **

He raised an eyebrow at that.**  
****But talking about our dysfunctional, star-crossed relationship? That was a place he apparently didn't want to go today. Yeah. **

Yeah, who wouldn't want to talk about that?" Mia said sarcastically.

**Things were definitely changing.****  
****"I think you're the one who's cold," I teased,**

"Finally the true Rose Hathaway comes back." Chrissie said.

**as we walked around the side of the dorm where novice guardians lived. "Shouldn't you be all tough and stuff, since you're from Siberia?"****  
****"I don't think Siberia's exactly what you imagine."**

"Yes, you're right," I told book-Dimitri.

"Eh Rose, you're talking to a book." Chrissie said teasingly.

"Just Shut up!" I told Chrissie.

**"I imagine it as an arctic wasteland," I said truthfully.****  
****"Then it's definitely not what you imagine."****  
****"Do you miss it?" I asked,**

"Yes," he murmured in my ear.

**glancing back to where he walked behind me. It was something I'd never considered before. In my mind, everyone would want to live in the U.S. Or, well, they at least wouldn't want to live in Siberia.****  
****"All the time," he said, his voice a little wistful. "Sometimes I wish–"****  
****"Belikov!"**

"Busted!" Chrissie, Eddie and Adrian said in unison.

I shocked my head at them in annoyance. **  
****A voice was carried on the wind from behind us. Dimitri muttered something, and then shoved me further around the corner I'd just rounded. "Stay out of sight."**

******I ducked down behind a bank of holly trees that flanked the building. They didn't have any berries, but the thick clusters of sharp, pointed leaves scratched where my skin was exposed. Considering the freezing temperature and possible discovery of my late-night walk, a few scratches were the least of my problems right now.**

******"You're not on watch," I heard Dimitri say several moments later.****  
****"No, but I needed to talk to you." I recognized the voice. It belonged to Alberta, captain of the Academy's guardians.**

"How did I not realize that you were there?" Alberta asked herself.

"Because I'm sneaky as a ninja," Rose suggested.

"Rose!" Chrissie groaned. "You're definitely not a ninja."

"How do you know?"

"Ninjas' are cool, you're not." He teased.

"Oh, burned!" Eddie exclaimed and Chrissie continued reading before a could say anything.

**"It'll just take a minute. We need to shuffle some of the watches while you're at the trial."****  
****"I figured," he said. There was a funny, almost uncomfortable note in his voice. "It's going to put a strain on everyone else–bad timing."****  
****"Yes, well, the queen runs on her own schedule." Alberta sounded frustrated, and I tried to figure out what was going on. "Celeste will take your watches, and she and Emil will divide up your training times."****  
****Training times? Dimitri wouldn't be conducting any trainings next week because– Ah. That was it, I realized. The field experience. Tomorrow kicked off six weeks of hands-on practice for us novices. We'd have no classes and would get to protect Moroi night and day while the adults tested us. The "training times" must be when Dimitri would be out participating in that.****  
****But what was this trial she'd mentioned? Did they mean like the final trials we had to undergo at the end of the school year?**

"Nope." I said popping the "p".**  
****"They say they don't mind the extra work," continued Alberta, "but I was wondering if you could even things out and take some of their shifts before you leave?"****  
****"Absolutely," he said, words still short and stiff.**

"Knowing Rose, I would say she probably used all this information against you" my mom said and I saw Abe smile at that.

**"Thanks. I think that'll help." She sighed. "I wish I knew how long this trial was going to be. I don't want to be away that long. You'd think it'd be a done deal with Dashkov, but now I hear the queen's getting cold feet about imprisoning a major royal."****  
****I stiffened. The chill running through me now had nothing to do with the winter day. Dashkov?**

I saw Lissa flinch at the name because of what he did to her and I flinched because of what I did to him.**  
****"I'm sure they'll do the right thing," said Dimitri. I realized at that moment why he wasn't saying much. This wasn't something I was supposed to hear.**

Alberta shook her head.

**"I hope so. And I hope it'll only take a few days, like they claim. Look, it's miserable out here. Would you mind coming into the office for a second to look at the schedule?"****  
****"Sure," he said. "Let me check on something first."****  
****"All right. See you soon."****  
****Silence fell, and I had to assume Alberta was walking away. Sure enough, Dimitri rounded the corner and stood in front of the holly. I shot up from my hiding spot. The look on his face told me he already knew what was coming.****  
****"Rose–"****  
****"Dashkov?" I exclaimed, trying to keep my voice low so Alberta wouldn't hear. "As in Victor Dashkov?"**

"What other Dashkov were you expecting?" Mia asked.**  
****He didn't bother denying it.****  
**He can't stand lying to me, Rose thought smugly.**  
****"Yes. Victor Dashkov."**

"Is there another Victor Dashkov," Chrissie teased.

**"And you guys were talking about…Do you mean…" I was so startled, so dumbstruck, that I could barely get my thoughts together. This was unbelievable.**

"Oh, look at that the famous Rose Hathaway is speechless. I can die as a happy man." Chrissie teased.

"Chrissie, shut the hell up or I swear to god I will cut out your tongue." I yelled at him.

He paled and continued reading.

**"I thought he was locked up! Are you saying he hasn't been on trial yet?"****  
****Yes. This was definitely unbelievable. Victor Dashkov. The guy who'd stalked Lissa and tortured her mind and body in order to control her powers. Every Moroi could use magic in one of the four elements: earth, air, water, or fire. Lissa, however, worked an almost unheard of fifth element called spirit. She could heal anything–including the dead. It was the reason I was now psychically linked to her–"shadow-kissed," some called it. She'd brought me back from the car accident that had killed her parents and brother, binding us together in a way that allowed me to feel her thoughts and experiences.****  
****Victor had learned long before any of us that she could heal, and he'd wanted to lock her away and use her as his own personal Fountain of Youth. He also hadn't hesitated to kill anyone who got in his way–or, in the case of Dimitri and me, use more creative ways to stop his opponents. I'd made a lot of enemies in seventeen years, but I was pretty sure there was no one I hated as much as Victor Dashkov–at least among the living.**

Lissa raised an eyebrow at that.**  
****Dimitri had a look on his face I knew well. It was the one he got when he thought I might punch someone. "He's been locked up–but no, no trial yet. Legal proceedings sometimes take a long time."****  
****"But there's going to be a trial now? And you're going?" I spoke through clenched teeth, trying to be calm. I suspected I still had the I'm going to punch someone look on my face.****  
****"Next week. They need me and some of the other guardians to testify about what happened to you and Lissa that night." His expression changed at the mention of what had occurred four months ago, and again, I recognized the look. It was the fierce, protective one he got when those he cared about were in danger.**

"I have a look like that?" he asked confused. Everyone nodded.**  
****"Call me crazy **

"You're crazy," Chrissie said. I shot him a look and he continued.

**for asking this, but, um, are Lissa and I going with you?" I had already guessed the answer, and I didn't like it.****  
****"No."****  
****"No?"****  
****"No."**

"No!" Adrian added just for fun.**  
****I put my hands on my hips. "Look, doesn't it seem reasonable that if you're going to talk about what happened to us, then you should have **_**us**_** there?"****  
****Dimitri, fully in strict-instructor mode now, shook his head. "The queen and some of the other guardians thought it'd be best if you didn't go. There's enough evidence between the rest of us, and besides, criminal or not, he is–or was–one of the most powerful royals in the world. Those who know about this trial want to keep it quiet."****  
**"Too late," Rose muttered.**  
****"So, what, you thought if you brought us, we'd tell everyone?" I exclaimed. "Come on, Comrade. You really think we'd do that? The only thing we want is to see Victor locked up. Forever. Maybe longer. And if there's a chance he might walk free, you have to let us go."****  
****After Victor had been caught, he'd been taken to prison, and I'd thought that was where the story had ended. I'd figured they'd locked him up to rot. It had never occurred to me–though it should have–that he'd need a trial first.**

Wow Rose you're always thinking," Chrissie said being the idiot he was just had to make fun of me**.**

**At the time, his crimes had seemed so obvious. But, although the Moroi government was secret and separate from the human one, it operated in a lot of the same ways. Due process and all that.****  
**Rose scoffed.**  
****"It's not my decision to make," Dimitri said.****  
****"But you have influence. You could speak up for us, especially if…" Some of my anger dimmed just a little, replaced by a sudden and startling fear. I almost couldn't say the next words. "Especially if there really is a chance he might get off. Is there? Is there really a chance the queen could let him go?"**

"Unfortunately," Dimitri said.**  
****"I don't know. There's no telling what she or some of the other high-up royals will do sometimes." He suddenly looked tired. He reached into his pocket and tossed over a set of keys. "Look, I know you're upset, but we can't talk about it now. I have to go meet Alberta, and you need to get inside. The square key will let you in the far side door. You know the one."**

"You're trusting Rose with your keys?" Mia asked shocked.**  
****I did. "Yeah. Thanks."****  
****I was sulking and hated to be that way–especially since he was saving me from getting in trouble–but I couldn't help it. Victor Dashkov was a criminal–a villain, even. He was power-hungry and greedy and didn't care who he stepped on to get his way. If he were loose again…well, there was no telling what might happen to Lissa or any other Moroi. It enraged me to think that I could do something to help put him away but that no one would let me do it.**

I couldn't help but think after all this arguing to get Victor locked up, I would be the one that set him free.**  
****I'd taken a few steps forward when Dimitri called out from behind me. "Rose?" I glanced back. "I'm sorry," he said. He paused, and his expression of regret turned wary. "And you'd better bring the keys back tomorrow."**

"I can't believe she actually gave the keys back," Sydney said.**  
****I turned away and kept going. It was probably unfair, but some childish part of me believed Dimitri could do anything. If he'd really wanted to get Lissa and me to the trial, I was certain he could have.****  
****When I was almost to the side door, I caught movement in my peripheral vision.****  
****My mood plummeted. Great. Dimitri had given me keys to sneak back in, and now someone else had busted me. That was typical of my luck. Half-expecting a teacher to demand to know what I was doing, I turned and prepared an excuse.**

"I wonder what excuse could get you out of this, cause I'm pretty sure testing security isn't going to work" Eddie said.

******But it wasn't a teacher.****  
**"Huh?" they all asked.

"Just keep reading," Rose gulped.**  
****"No," I said softly. This had to be a trick. "No."****  
****For half an instant, I wondered if I'd ever really woken up. Maybe I was actually still in bed, asleep and dreaming.****  
****Because surely, surely that was the only explanation for what I was now seeing in front of me on the Academy's lawn, lurking in the shadow of an ancient, gnarled oak.****  
****It was Mason.**

"What!" Lissa exclaimed.  
"That's the end of the chapter." Chrissie said." Who wants to read next?"

"I will," Alberta said, taking the book.** "Chapter Two"**

**Thanks for Reading! I hope you liked it. Just tell me what you think and if I should continue the story. So please REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

**Love ya, guys :***


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, that's my next chapter and it's long. I meant it's not just long, it's extremely long. You won't believe me if I tell you, but I'm serious. I wrote 8.352 words. Hope you like it, though. **

**And thanks for all the reviews I got, I loved them. While reading them I kind of smiled like a fool because you wrote that you loved my story and that I should continue. Especial thank you to 1Romitri4 and his awesome idea :)There will be a twist in the end of this chapter, hopefully you will like it too…but I promise you they will definitively read the whole book. :) **

**I decided to skip the first part (only 2 pages) of this chapter because it's about Mason and his death. It was just depressing and I don't want to be depressed and I don't want that you guys would be depressed. :)) Hope you think that it's okay…**

**DISCLAIMER: I would love to own VA and the character but sadly I do not… ;( Neither of us does except the awesome Richelle Mead.**

**Enjoy!**

"**Chapter Two," **Alberta read.**  
****Or, well, it looked like Mason.**

I saw the grief in everyone's' face and I remembered that day I saw him standing there all over again. How I felt. And I remembered my thoughts which are most likely in this book. I thought a lot about him. I even tortured me with what if questions.' What if I'd been faster and stronger during the Strigoi fight? What if I hadn't told him where the Strigoi were in the first place? And what if I'd simply been able to return his love?' I felt guilty and blamed myself just like Eddie did. I knew he blamed himself too. It was ridiculous because he wasn't responsible for his death-neither was I, I had to admit that and hearing those thoughts again. I shook my head. I couldn't hear them again and no one else should hear them ever. So I decided to ask Alberta if she could skip this part. She nodded and skipped two pages of loss, sadness, grief, pain and blame. All of them understood why I had to skip these pages and where glad that they don't have to hear it.

******Among humans, the light of day tends to chase off nightmares and fear. I had no such daylight; I awoke to increasing darkness. But just being out with real and living people had nearly the same effect, and as I went to breakfast and my morning practice, I found that what I'd seen last night–or what I thought I'd seen last night–was growing fainter and fainter in my memory.****  
****The weirdness of that encounter was also being replaced by something else: excitement. This was it. The big day. The start of our field experience.****  
**" Yeah, I wasn't that happy when I got my assignment," I said.

Chrissie smirked at that recalling all the stories he heard about my reaction when I heard. **  
****For the next six weeks, I wouldn't have any classes. I'd get to spend my days hanging out with Lissa,**

"Or not," Adrian smirked.

**and the most I'd have to do was write a daily field report that was only about a half-page long. Easy.**

"That's what they want you to think," I muttered.

All of the guardians laughed.****

**And, yeah, of course I'd be on guard duty, but I wasn't concerned. That was second nature to me.**

"Yeah, that's for sure." Mom scoffed**. **

**She and I had lived among humans for two years, and I'd protected her the whole time. Before that,**

"You're still explaining things you already know, why?" Mia asked.

"Because she likes to hear herself talk, don't you?" Chrissie teased.

"Not as much as you, Chrissie," I shot back. We smiled at each other challengingly. No way, I was backing down. Everyone expect us-Chrissie and me- groaned and Alberta tried to ignore us in continuing.

**when I'd been a freshman, I'd seen the kinds of tests the adult guardians planned for novices during this phase. **

I always was fascinated by that.

**The ordeals were tricky, absolutely. A novice had to be on watch and not slack–and be ready to defend and attack if necessary. None of that worried me, though. Lissa and I had been away from the school our sophomore and junior years and I'd fallen behind then. Thanks to my extra practices with Dimitri.**

I smiled at him and he smiled back, squeezing my hand.**  
****I'd quickly caught up and was now one of the best in my class.****  
**"Thank you," I breathed into his ear. "I'll make it up, later ok? I said kissing a path up his neck. He shuddered at that and I grinned.**  
****"Hey, Rose."****  
****Eddie Castile caught up to me as I walked into the gym where our field experience orientation would kick off. For a brief moment, looking at Eddie, my heart sank. **

He raised an eyebrow.

**Suddenly, it was like I was out in the quad again with Mason, staring at his sorrowful face.****Eddie–along with Lissa's boyfriend, Christian, and a Moroi named Mia–had been with our group when we'd been captured by Strigoi. Eddie hadn't died,**

"obviously," Eddie said.

Alberta smiled at the next word**. obviously,**

"Great minds think alike," I said high-fiving him.

**but he'd come very close to it.****  
****The Strigoi who'd held us had used him as food,**

Eddie shuddered.

**feeding from him throughout our capture in an effort to tease the Moroi and scare the dhampirs. It had worked; I'd been terrified. Poor Eddie had been unconscious for most of the ordeal, thanks to blood loss and the endorphins that came from a vampire's bite. He'd been Mason's best friend and nearly as funny and lighthearted.**

He smiled at that.****

**But since we'd escaped, Eddie had changed, just like I had.**

"True," Eddie said.

"Very true," Mia agreed. Everyone in the room nodded.

**He was still quick to smile and laugh, but there was a grimness to him now, a dark and serious look in his eyes that was always on guard for the worst to happen. That was understandable, of course. He pretty much had seen the worst happen. Just like with Mason's death, I held myself responsible for this transformation in Eddie**

"No, that's not your fault," he assured.

Everybody agreed with him.

**and for what he'd suffered at the hands of the Strigoi. That may not have been fair to me, **

"Really?" Chrissie scoffed.

**but I couldn't help it. I felt like I owed him now, like I needed to protect him or make things up to him somehow.****  
**"You don't" he confirmed.**  
****And that was kind of funny, because I think Eddie was trying to protect me.**

He nodded and we both cracked up laughing.**  
****He wasn't stalking me or anything,**

"Thank god," I exclaimed.

**but I'd noticed him keeping an eye on me. I think after what had happened, he felt he owed it to Mason to watch over his girlfriend.**

He nodded again.**  
****I never bothered to tell Eddie that I hadn't been Mason's girlfriend, not in the real sense of the word, just as I never rebuked Eddie for his big brother behavior. I could certainly take care of myself. But whenever I heard him warning other guys away from me, pointing out that I wasn't ready to date anyone yet, I saw no point in interfering. It was all true. I wasn't ready to date.****  
**"I'm amazing, right?" Eddie said sarcastically.**  
****Eddie gave me a lopsided smile that added a little boy type of cuteness to his long face. "Are you excited?"****  
**Hell, yeah, I thought.**  
****"Hell, yeah," I said. Our classmates were filling in bleachers on one side of the gym, and we found a clear spot near the middle. "It's going to be like a vacation. Me and Lissa together for six weeks."**

"But no," I said grimly. **  
****As frustrating as our bond was sometimes, it nonetheless made me her ideal guardian. I always knew where she was and what was happening to her.**

"Not anymore," she said.

**Once we graduated and were out in the world, I'd be assigned to her officially.****  
****He turned thoughtful. "Yeah, I guess you don't have to worry as much. You know your assignment when you graduate. The rest of us aren't so lucky."******

**"You got your sights set on someone royal?" I teased.****  
****"Well, it doesn't matter. Most guardians are assigned to royals lately anyway."****  
**"True," Mia said**.  
****That was true. Dhampirs–half-vampires like me–were in short supply, and royals usually got first pick of guardians. There was a time in the past when more Moroi, royal and non-royal alike, would have gotten guardians,****  
**"Seriously? I didn't know that," Chrissie said sarcastically.

"Why are you still explaining things you already know," Mia said annoyed. **  
****and novices like us would have competed fiercely to get assigned to someone important. Now it was almost a given that every guardian would work for a royal family. There weren't enough of us to go around, and less influential families were on their own.****  
**"Stupid system," Mia muttered.**  
****"Still," I said, "I guess it's a question of which royal you get, right? I mean, some are total snobs, but lots of them are cool. Get someone really rich and powerful, and you could be living at the Royal Court or traveling to exotic places."****  
**"We absolutely have to do this some day" Lissa said.**  
****That last part appealed to me a lot, and I often had fantasies of Lissa and me traveling the world.****  
****"Yup," agreed Eddie. He nodded toward a few guys in the front row. "You wouldn't believe the way those three have been sucking up to some of the Ivashkovs and Szelskys. It won't affect their assignments here, of course, but you can tell they're already trying to set things up after graduation."****  
**"Did they get what they wanted?"I asked.

"Nope," Edddie said.**  
****"Well, the field experience can affect that. How we're rated on this will go into our records."****  
**Everyone looked at me.

"I passed, okay?" I told them.**  
****Eddie nodded again and started to say something when a loud, clear feminine voice cut through the murmur of our conversation. We both looked up. While we'd been talking, our instructors had gathered in front of the bleachers and now stood facing us in an impressive line. Dimitri was among them, dark and imposing and irresistible. Alberta was trying to call us to attention. The crowd fell silent.******

**"All right," she began. Alberta was in her fifties, wiry and tough. Seeing her reminded me of the conversation she and Dimitri had had last night, but I filed that away for later. Victor Dashkov was not going to ruin this moment.****  
**He will ruin a later moment, though, I thought.**  
****"You all know why you're here." We'd become so quiet, so tense and excited, that her voice now rang through the gym.****  
**"Shocking," Alberta mumbled.**  
****"This is the most important day of your education before you take your final trials. Today you will find out which Moroi you've been placed with. Last week, you were given a booklet with the full details of how the next six weeks will play out. I trust you've all read it by now." **

Everyone in this room looked at me curious.

**I had, actually.****I'd probably never read anything so thoroughly in my life.**

The curiosity was replaced by shock.

"What?" I exclaimed.

"You read a book?" Chrissie asked astonished.

"Yeah, I read lots of books. At least more than you. Did you ever read a book? Do you even know how to read?" I teased. "You know, there are letter's an-"

"I know how to read!" he said pissed.

"You sure?" I asked.

**"Just to recap, Guardian Alto will highlight the main rules of this exercise."****  
****She handed a clipboard to Guardian Stan Alto. He was one of my least favorite instructors,**

"Ah, what a nice description, little dhampir." I said amused.

**but after Mason's death, some of the tension between us had lightened. We understood each other better now.****  
**I mentally scoffed.**  
****"Here we go," said Stan gruffly. "You'll be on duty six days a week. This is actually a treat for you guys. In the real world, you're usually working every day. You will accompany your Moroi everywhere–to class, to their dorms, to their feedings.****  
****Everything. It's up to you to figure out how you fit into their lives. Some Moroi interact with their guardians just like friends;****  
**Lissa and I looked at each other and smiled.**  
****some Moroi prefer you to be more of an invisible ghost who doesn't talk to them." **

That actually sucks…standing there and do nothing.

**Did he have to use the word ghost?**

"Haha, actually kind of ironic, don't you think?" Chrissie teased.

Nobody payed the slightest attention to him and now he was offended that made me smirk.**  
****"Every situation is different, and you two will have to find a way to work it out to best ensure their safety.******

**"Attacks may come at any time, anywhere, and we'll be dressed in all black when it happens. You should always be on your guard. Remember, even though you'll obviously know it's us doing the attacking and not real Strigoi, you should respond as though your lives are in terrible, immediate danger. Don't be afraid of hurting us.**

I smirked.**  
****Some of you, I'm sure, won't have any qualms about getting us back for past grievances."****  
**"Nope," Rose exclaimed, popping the 'p'.

**Students in the crowd giggled at this. "But some of you may feel like you have to hold back, for fear of getting in trouble. Don't. You'll get in more trouble if you do hold back. Don't worry. We can take it."******

**He flipped to the next page of his clipboard. "You will be on duty twenty-four hours a day for your six-day cycles, but you may sleep during daylight when your Moroi does. Just be aware that although Strigoi attacks are rare in daylight, they aren't impossible indoors, and you will not necessarily be 'safe' during these times."****  
**"Blah, blah, blah. Shut up Stannyboy," I told book-Stan.

"Rose, you're speaking to a book again."Chrissie said annoyed**. **

"You breathe and won't stop, so I decided to talk to the book. If you stop breathing I'll stop talking to the book," I smirked.  
**Stan read over a few more technicalities****and I found myself tuning them out.******

"Should have known," Mom said.

"Yeah, you should have," I commented.

******I knew this stuff. We all did. Glancing around, I could see I wasn't alone in my impatience. Excitement and apprehension crackled in the crowd. Hands were clenched. Eyes were wide. We all wanted our assignments. We all wanted this to begin.****  
****When Stan finished,**

"Finally it's done," Adrian shouted in relief.

**he handed the clipboard to Alberta. "Okay," she said. "I'm going to call out your names one by one and announce who you're paired with. At that time, come down here to the floor, and Guardian Chase will give you a packet containing information about your Moroi's schedule, past, etcetera."**

"Boring, they yapped ages."I groaned. Then I realized Alberta was here too so I looked at her and said."Sorry." and smiled.  
She shook her head but continued.  
**  
****We all straightened up as she leafed through her papers. Students whispered. Beside me, Eddie exhaled heavily. "Oh man. I hope I get someone good," he muttered.****  
**"You did," I said.**  
****"I don't want to be miserable for the next six weeks."****  
****I squeezed his arm reassuringly. "You will," I whispered back.**

"Did you just tell him he would be miserable," Adrian asked."That's not very nice, little dhampir."

"It's in the book." I told him.

**"Er, get someone good, I mean. Not be miserable."****  
****"Ryan Aylesworth," Alberta announced clearly. Eddie flinched, and I instantly knew why. Before, Mason Ashford had always been the first one called on any class lists. That would never happen again. "You are assigned to Camille Conta."****  
****"Damn," muttered someone behind us, who'd apparently been hoping to get Camille.**

"Suck it up."I said.****

**Ryan was one of the suck-ups in the front row, and he grinned broadly as he walked over to take his packet. The Contas were an up-and-coming royal family. It was rumored that one of their members was a candidate for when the Moroi queen eventually named her heir. Plus, Camille was pretty cute. Following her around wouldn't be too hard for any guy. Ryan, walking with a swagger, seemed very pleased with himself.****  
**Eddie and I rolled our eyes at that statement.**  
****"Dean Barnes," she said next. "You have Jesse Zeklos."****  
**"Ew," Eddie and I said in unison.**  
****"Ugh," Eddie and I both said together. If I'd been assigned to Jesse, he would have needed an extra person to protect him. From me.**

****"I actually made sure you weren't with him" Dimitri said. "My hero," I said and kissed him.

**Alberta kept reading names, and I noticed Eddie was sweating. "Please, please let me get someone good," he muttered.****  
****"You will," I said. "You will."****  
****"Edison Castile," Alberta announced. He gulped. "Vasilisa Dragomir."******

Mom's mouth gaped open. "What!?" she exclaimed.  
"That's what I said, too," I told her**.******

**Eddie and I both froze for the space of a heartbeat, and then duty made him stand up and head toward the floor. As he stepped down the bleachers, he shot me a quick, panicked look over his shoulder. His expression seemed to say, I don't know! I don't know!******

"That made two of us," Rose said, glaring at Dimitri****

**That made two of us.**

Adrian laughed at the similarity**.******

**The world around me slowed to a blur. Alberta kept calling names, but I didn't hear any of them. What was going on? Clearly, someone had made a mistake. Lissa was my assignment.****  
**"Not anymore, Miss Hathaway," Alberta said to book-Rose.**  
****She had to be. I was going to be her guardian when we graduated.****  
****This made no sense. Heart racing, I watched Eddie walk over to Guardian Chase and get his packet and practice stake. He glanced down at the papers immediately, and I suspected he was double-checking the name, certain there was a mix-up. The expression on his face when he looked up told me that it was Lissa's name he'd found.******

**I took a deep breath. Okay. No need to panic just yet. Someone had made a clerical error here, one that could be fixed. In fact, they'd have to fix it soon. When they got to me and read Lissa's name again, they were going to realize they'd double-booked one of the Moroi. They'd straighten it out and give Eddie someone else. After all, there were plenty of Moroi to go around. They outnumbered dhampirs at the school.******

**"Rosemarie Hathaway." I tensed.****  
****Everyone in the room, that didn't know the result, tensed.****  
****"Christian Ozera."******

"What?!" Janine exclaimed. "You do realize that she would killed him, right?"  
"But she didn't," Alberta told her calmly.

**I simply stared at Alberta, unable to move or respond. No. She had not just said what I thought. **

"Come on, Rose, I'm not that bad."Chrissie said.

"Ummm? You sure about that?" I asked.

"You make me sound like the worst person in the world."

"I just don't make you _sound_ like the worst person in the world-you are the worst person in the world"

"Oh, burned," Eddie and Adrian exclaimed, high-fiving me.

**A few people, noticing my lack of movement, glanced back at me. But I was dumbstruck. This wasn't happening. My Mason delusion from last night seemed more real than this. A few moments later, Alberta also realized I wasn't moving. She looked up from her clipboard with annoyance, scanning the crowd.******

**"Rose Hathaway?"****  
**"Were you actually planning to get up or did you decide against it?" Chrissie asked teasingly.**  
****Someone elbowed me, like maybe I didn't recognize my own name. Swallowing, I stood and walked down the bleachers, robot-like. There was a mistake.******

"Nope," Alberta said.****

**There had to be a mistake.******

"No mistake."****

**I headed toward Guardian Chase, feeling like a puppet that someone else was controlling. He handed me my packet and a practice stake meant to "kill" the adult guardians with, and I stepped out of the way for the next person.****  
****Disbelieving, I read the words on the packet's cover three times. Christian Ozera. **

"Will you believe it already?" he said getting mad at the book.

**Flipping it open, I saw his life spread out before me. A current picture. His class schedule. His family tree. His bio. It even went into detail about his parents' tragic history, how they'd chosen to become Strigoi and had murdered several people before finally being hunted down and killed.****  
**Chrissie flinched at the mention of his parents.**  
****Our directions at this point had been to read through our dossiers, pack a bag, and then meet up with our Moroi at lunch. As more names were called, many of my classmates lingered around the gym, talking to their friends and showing off their packets. I hovered near one group, discreetly waiting for a chance to talk to Alberta and Dimitri.******

"'Talk'?" Dimitri asked. "More like 'yell'."****

**It was a sign of my newly developing patience******

Christian scoffed.****

**that I didn't walk right up to them then and there and demand answers.******

"That's a start," Janine muttered. ****

**Believe me, I wanted to. Instead, I let them go through their list, but it felt like forever. Honestly, how long did it take to read a bunch of names?******

**When the last novice had been assigned his Moroi, Stan shouted above the din for us to move on to the next stage of the assignment and tried to herd out my classmates. I cut through the crowd and stalked up to Dimitri and Alberta, who blessedly were standing with each other. They were chatting about something administrative and didn't notice me right away.******

**When they did glance at me, I held up my packet and pointed. "What's this?"****  
**  
"You're assignment," Abe said confusedly.****

**Alberta's face looked blank and confused.**

"I was actually surprised you weren't expecting that" I told Alberta.

**Something in Dimitri's told me he'd been expecting this.****  
**He nodded.  
**  
****"It's your assignment, Miss Hathaway," Alberta said.******

**"No," I said through gritted teeth. "It's not. This is somebody else's assignment."****  
**"Really, you just had to go and make a big deal out of this" Lissa said.

"Yes, because it is a big deal," I said. "was, I mean"**  
****"The assignments in your field experience aren't optional," she told me sternly. "Just as your assignments in the real world won't be. You can't pick who you protect based on whim and mood, not here and certainly not after graduation."******

**"But after graduation, I'm going to be Lissa's guardian!" I exclaimed. "Everyone knows that. I'm supposed to have her for this thing."******

**"I know it's an accepted idea that you'll be together after graduation, but I do not recall any mandatory rulings that say you're 'supposed' to have her or anyone here at school. You take who you're assigned."******

**"Christian?"**

****"Yes?" he answered.I rolled my eyes.

******I threw my packet on the floor. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm guarding him."****  
****"Rose!" snapped Dimitri, joining the conversation at last. His voice was so hard and so sharp that I flinched and forgot what I was saying for half a second. "You're out of line. You do not speak to your instructors like that."****I hated being chastised by anyone. I especially hated being chastised by him. And I especially hated being chastised by him when he was right.****  
**

Adrian and Chrissie laughed at this." Did you just admit that you were wrong?"

"Nope," I said" I actually didn't say that."

"Well, you were implying it." They both laughed.

******But I couldn't help it. I was too angry, and the lack of sleep was taking its toll. My nerves felt raw and strained, and suddenly, little things seemed difficult to bear. And big things like this? Impossible to bear.******

**"Sorry," I said with great reluctance. "But this is stupid. Nearly as stupid as not bringing us to Victor Dashkov's trial."**

****"You just blew your cover for knowing about it," Eddie said.**  
****Alberta blinked in surprise.******

"I shouldn't have been," Alberta scolded herself.****

**"How did you know–never mind. We'll deal with that later. For now, this is your assignment, and you need to do it."******

**Eddie suddenly spoke up beside me, his voice filled with apprehension. I'd lost track of him earlier. "Look…I don't mind…We can switch…"****  
"**Thanks for offering," I told him.**  
****Alberta turned her stony gaze from me to him. "No, you certainly cannot. Vasilisa Dragomir is your assignment." She looked back at me." And Christian Ozera is yours. End of discussion."******

"Burned!" Christian exclaimed.

I sent him a death glare.**  
****"This is stupid!" I repeated. "Why should I waste my time with Christian?******

"Aw!" Christian exclaimed with much sarcasm. "Love you too, Rosie Posie!"

I glared at him. "Say that one more timey-whimey and I'll brake your jawy-wawy."

Christian backed away in fear. ****

**Lissa's the one I'm going to be with when I graduate. Seems like if you want me to be able to do a good job, you should have me practice with her."******

**"You will do a good job with her," said Dimitri. "Because you know her.******

**And you have your bond. But somewhere, someday, you could end up with a different Moroi. You need to learn how to guard someone with whom you have absolutely no experience."******

**"I have experience with Christian," I grumbled. "That's the problem. I hate him."**

"Ouch" Chrissie said" glad to know you like me so much"****

**Okay, that was a huge exaggeration. Christian annoyed me, true, but I didn't really hate****  
**Now, he raised an eyebrow.**  
****As I'd said, working together against the Strigoi had changed a lot of things. Again, I felt like my lack of sleep and general irritability were cranking up the magnitude of everything.******

**"So much the better," said Alberta. "Not everyone you protect will be your friend. Not everyone you protect will be someone you like. You need to learn this."******

**"I need to learn how to fight Strigoi," I said. "I've learned that in class." I fixed them with a sharp look, ready to play my trump card. "And I've done it in person."**

"pfft,"Abe said.**  
****"There's more to this job than the technicalities, Miss Hathaway.****  
**Every single guardian nodded.**  
****There's a whole personal aspect–a bedside manner, if you will–that we don't touch on much in class. We teach you how to deal with the Strigoi. You need to learn how to deal with the Moroi yourselves. And you in particular need to deal with someone who has not been your best friend for years."******

**"You also need to learn what it's like to work with someone when you can't instantly sense that they're in danger," added Dimitri.****  
**"See Rose, I helped you to become a great guardian by being your assignment. You know you guys don't make me feel like a person, more like a thing. You keep referring me as an assignment but I'm a person,"**  
****"Right,"**

"See, even Alberta agrees with me ."

"Actually I was just reading the book." she said awkwardly.

**agreed Alberta. "That's a handicap. If you want to be a good guardian–if you want to be an excellent guardian–then you need to do as we say."******

Janine nodded at me, wishing that her daughter would just shut up and take the assignment already.****

**I opened my mouth to fight this, to argue that having someone I was so close to would train me up faster and make me a better guardian for any other Moroi. Dimitri cut me off.******

**"Working with another Moroi will also help keep Lissa alive," he said.******

**That shut me down. It was pretty much the only thing that could have, and damn him, he knew it.****  
**"Thank you, Dimitri, for shutting Rose up." I threw a pillow at him.  
**  
"What do you mean?" I asked.******

**"Lissa's got a handicap too–you.******

**If she never has a chance to learn what it's like to be guarded by someone without a psychic connection, she could be at greater risk if attaced.******

**Guarding someone is really a two-person relationship. This assignment for your field experience is as much for her as for you."******

**I stayed silent as I processed his words. They almost made sense.****  
**"Almost?" my mom asked. "they make perfect sense!"**  
****"And," added Alberta, "it's the only assignment you're going to get. If you don't take it, then you opt out of the field experience."******

**Opt out?******

"Yes, Rose," Adrian stated. "That's what she said.****

**Was she crazy?******

Alberta looked at Rose like she was the crazy one. "No, Rose. I am not."**  
****It wasn't like a class I could sit out from for one day. If I didn't do my field experience, I didn't graduate. I wanted to explode about unfairness, but Dimitri stopped me without saying a word. The constant, calm look in his dark eyes held me back, encouraging me to accept this gracefully–or as close as I could manage.******

**Reluctantly I picked up the packet. "Fine," I said icily. "I'll do this. But I want it noted that I'm doing this against my will."****  
**"You really shouldn't have said that" Mia said. **  
****"I think we already figured that out, Miss Hathaway," remarked Alberta dryly.****"Whatever. I still think it's a horrible idea, and you eventually will too."**

"Threat," Adrian exclaimed.  
"Ya, that's the proof they got for the whole Stan drama." I said.**  
****I turned and stormed off across the gym before any of them could respond. In doing so, I fully realized what a bitchy little brat I sounded like.****  
**"Oh, you realized it?" Chrissie asked sarcastically.**  
****But if they'd just endured their best friend's sex life, seen a ghost, and hardly gotten any sleep, they'd have been bitchy too.******

"Well, I guess you do have an excuse…kinda…but they don't know."****

**Plus, I was about to spend six weeks with Christian Ozera. He was sarcastic, difficult, and made jokes about everything.**

****Lissa laughed "That's so like you"

"No it's not" I told her stubbornly.

**Actually, he was a lot like me.**

"You even admitted it," Lissa said while Christian was saying "EWW! I am nothing like her!"

"I actually noticed something" Mia said. "Lissa's best friend and boyfriend are sarcastic, difficult, and make jokes about everything and Rose's best friend and boyfriend are all calm and friendly."

Arian laughed. "It's like you went for eachoth—"

"Shut up, Adrian" I said for like the millionth time today.

******It was going to be a long six weeks.**

"That's for sure," I said.

"That's the end of the chapter." Alberta said.

"Ow, I love this book! Let's start the next chapter, please." She begged.

I rolled my eyes but agreed.

"Who wants to read?" I asked.

"I will." Eddie said. "**Chapter Three.******

**"Why so glum, little dhampir?"****  
**Life, I thought.**  
I was heading across the quad, toward the commons, when I detected the scent of clove cigarettes. I sighed.******

**"Adrian, you are the last person I want to see right now."******

"Burned!" Eddie exclaimed.****

**Adrian Ivashkov hurried up beside me, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air that of course drifted right toward me. I waved it off and made a great show of exaggerated coughing. Adrian was a royal Moroi we'd "acquired" on our recent ski trip.****  
**Eddie put the word "acquired" in air quotations.**  
****He was a few years older than me and had come back to St. Vladimir's to work on learning spirit with Lissa. So far, he was the only other spirit user we knew of. He was arrogant and spoiled and spent a lot of his time indulging in cigarettes, alcohol, and women. He also had a crush on me–or at least wanted to get me into bed.******

Dimitri glared at Adrian.****

**"Apparently," he said. "I've hardly seen you at all since we got back. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding me."****  
**"She is avoiding you," Lissa said.**  
****"I am avoiding you."****  
**We looked at each other and smiled.

"Great minds think alike," I said. **  
****He exhaled loudly and raked a hand through the sable brown hair he always kept stylishly messy. "Look, Rose. You don't have to keep up with the hard-to-get thing. You've already got me."******

Dimitri was glaring the hell out of Adrian by now. I smirked. ****

**Adrian knew perfectly well I wasn't playing hard-to-get, but he always took a particular delight in teasing me.******

**"I'm really not in the mood for your so-called charm today."******

**"What happened, then? You're stomping through every puddle you can find and look like you're going to punch the first person you see."**  
**"Why are you hanging around, then? Aren't you worried about getting hit?"******

"Typical Rose," Lissa stated.****

**"Aw, you'd never hurt me. My face is too pretty."******

Dimitri scoffed.**  
**"Yours is much prettier," I whispered in his ear.

******"Not pretty enough to make up for the gross, carcinogenic smoke blowing in my face. How can you do that? Smoking's not allowed on campus. Abby Badica got two weeks' detention when she got caught."******

**"I'm above the rules, Rose. I'm neither student nor staff, merely a free spirit wandering your fair school as I will."******

**"Maybe you should go do some wandering now."****  
**"Nice one, Rose," Eddie said high-fiving me.**  
****"You want to get rid of me, you tell me what's going on."****  
**"Nope," I said to book-Adrian.

"Talking to the book again?" Chrissie teased.

"Breathing again?" I retorted.

Everyone rolled their eyes at our silly kindergarten-fight.**  
There was no avoiding it. Besides, he'd know soon enough. Everyone would know. "I got assigned to Christian for my field experience."******

**There was a pause, and then Adrian burst out laughing.**

"Thanks for your condolences," I said sarcastically.

"My pleasure" he said as sarcastic as I.

**"Wow. Now I understand. In light of that, you actually seem remarkably calm."****  
****"I was supposed to have Lissa," I growled. "I can't believe they did this to me."****  
****"Why did they do it? Is there some chance you might not be with her when you graduate?"****  
**"No!" Lissa and I both exclaimed.**  
****"No. They just all seem to think this is going to help me train better now. Dimitri and I will still be her real guardians later."****  
****Adrian gave me a sidelong glance. "Oh, I'm sure that'll be quite the hardship for you."**

**It had to be one of the weirdest things in the universe that Lissa had never come close to suspecting my feelings for Dimitri but that Adrian had figured it out.****  
**"I should have figured it out sooner." She scolded herself.**  
****He apparently didn't agree. I had a suspicious feeling he'd been drinking already, and it was barely even lunchtime. "What's the problem? Christian'll be with Lissa all the time anyway."****  
****Adrian had a point. **

"Ow, you've finally realized it." He said happily. I punched him and he shut up.

**Not that I'd have admitted it.**

"Sure not," I told book-me.

"Rose, you-"Chrissie started but I cut him off, not wanting to hear any of his 'you-talk-to-a-book-and-I-think-you're-crazy' comments.

**Then, in that short-attention-span way of his, he switched subjects just as we neared the building.****  
****"Have I mentioned your aura to you?" he asked suddenly.****  
**"Strange subject change," Mia mumbled.**  
****There was a strange note to his voice. Hesitant. Curious. It was very uncharacteristic. Everything he usually said was mocking.****  
**"Thanks to that, little dhampir," he said sarcastically.

"Anytime," I said with a smirk.**  
****"I don't know. Yeah, once. You said it was dark or something. Why?" Auras were fields of light that surrounded every person. Their colors and brightness were allegedly linked to a person's personality and energy.**

"Explaining again?" Mia asked, raising an eyebrow.

I didn't response and Eddie continued.

**Only spirit users could see them. Adrian had been doing it for as long as he could remember, but Lissa was still learning.******

**"Hard to explain. Maybe it's nothing." He came to a stop near the door and inhaled deeply on his cigarette. He went out of his way to blow a cloud of smoke away from me,****  
**"That would be a first," Chrissie said.**  
****but the wind carried it back. "Auras are strange. They ebb and flow and change colors and brightness. Some are vivid, some are pale. Every once in a while, someone's will settle and burn with such a pure color that you can…" He tipped his head back, staring into the sky. I recognized the signs of that weird "unhinged" state he sometimes fell into. "You can instantly grasp what it means. It's like seeing into their soul."******

**I smiled. "But you haven't figured mine out, huh? Or what any of these colors mean?"******

**He shrugged. "I'm figuring it out. You talk to enough people, get a feel for what they're like and then start to see the same kinds of people with the same kinds of colors….After a while, the colors start to mean something."******

**"What's mine look like right now?"****  
****He glanced over at me. "Eh, I can't quite get a fix on it today."******

**"I knew it. You've been drinking."****  
**"When hasn't he?" Dimitri whispered to me.**  
****Substances, like alcohol or certain medications, numbed spirit's effects.****  
**

**"Just enough to chase the chill away. I can guess what your aura's like, though. It's usually like the others, sort of those swirling colors–it's just kind of edged in darkness. Like you've always got a shadow following you."****  
"I'm shadow kissed, that's why," I told book-me.**

"Rose, seriously, you're talkin-" Chrissie started but I interrupted again.

"Shut the hell up, nobody needs your comments, okay?" I yelled.

"But they need yours?" Chrissie yelled back.

"Of cores, I'm awesome," I teased.

"You're awesome, sure," he said sarcastically but then shouted. "Even a fucking stone is a lot more awesome than you."

"What did you say, Chrissie? I couldn't hear you." I teased.

"Guys, shut up." Lissa said annoyed.**  
****Something in his voice made me shiver. Although I'd heard him and Lissa talk about auras a lot, I'd never really thought of them as anything I needed to worry about. They were more like some kind of stage trick–a cool thing with little substance.****  
"That's so cheerful," I said. "You ever think about motivational speaking?"**

"Haha awesome, Rose," Eddie said laughing and we high-fived.

"See, Chrissie, I'm awesome." I smiled at him he wanted to answer but Eddie continued reading.

Haha,Loser, I thought.

**His scattered look faded, and his normal mirth returned. "Don't worry, little dhampir. You might be surrounded by clouds, but you'll always be like sunshine to me."**

Everyone rolled his eyes at Adrian's comment.

**I rolled my eyes. He dropped his cigarette onto the sidewalk and put it out with his foot. "Gotta go. See you later." He swept me a gallant bow and started walking away toward guest housing.******

**"You just littered!" I yelled.******

**"Above the rules, Rose," he called back. "Above the rules."****  
**Alberta shook his head at that.****

**Shaking my head, I picked up the now-cold cigarette butt and took it to a garbage can that was outside the building. When I entered, the warmth inside was a welcome change as I shook off the slush on my boots. Down in the cafeteria, I found lunch wrapping up for the afternoon. Here, dhampirs sat side by side with Moroi, providing a study in contrasts. Dhampirs, with our half-human blood, were bigger–though not taller–and more solidly built. The girl novices were curvier than the ultra-slim Moroi girls, the boy novices far more muscular than their vampire counterparts. The Moroi complexions were pale and delicate, like porcelain, while ours were tanned from being outside in the sun so much.**

Mia shook her head. "I really hate your senseless explanations, you know." I laughed at that.****

**Lissa sat at a table by herself, looking serene and angelic in a white sweater. Her pale blond hair cascaded over her shoulders. She glanced up at my approach, and welcoming feelings flowed to me through our bond.****  
**"Ow," Adrian said.

"Are you gay?" I responded. The others burst out laughing.

"That was hilarious, Rose" Eddie said.**  
****She grinned. "Oh, look at your face. It's true, isn't it? You really are assigned to Christian."******

**"Would it kill you to be a little less miserable?" She gave me a censuring yet amused look as she licked the last of her strawberry yogurt off her spoon. "I mean, he's my boyfriend, after all. I hang out with him all the time. It's not that bad."****  
"You have the patient of a saint,"**

"True dat sista yo," Lissa said.

We all laughed.

"Stop trying to act all gansta," I said around my laughs.

**I grumbled, slouching into a chair. "And besides, you don't hang out with him 24/7."******

**"Neither will you. It's only 24/6."******

**"Same difference. It might as well be 24/10."******

**She frowned. "That doesn't make any sense."****  
**Dimitri laughed at my senselessness.**  
****I waved off my idiotic remark and stared blankly around the lunchroom. The room was buzzing with news of the impending field exercise, which would kick off as soon as lunch ended. Camille's best friend had gotten assigned to Ryan's best friend, and the four of them huddled gleefully together, looking as though they were about to embark on a six-week double date. At least someone would enjoy all this. I sighed. Christian, my soon-to-be charge, was off with the feeders–humans who willingly donated blood to Moroi.******

**Through our bond, I sensed Lissa wanting to tell me something. She was holding off because she was worried about my bad mood and wanted to make sure I got enough support. I smiled. "Stop worrying about me. What's up?"******

**She smiled back, her pink-glossed lips hiding her fangs. "I got permission."******

**"Permission for–?" The answer flitted from her mind faster than she could have voiced it. "What?" I exclaimed. "You're going to stop your meds?"****  
**Chrissie glared at Adrian, thinking he was the cause to this.**  
****Spirit was an amazing power, one whose cool abilities we were just starting to figure out. It had a very nasty side effect, however: It could lead to depression and insanity. Part of the reason Adrian indulged in drinking so much (aside from his party nature)**

"Nice description, Rosie," Chrissie said.

"Thank you, Chrissie," I replied.

**was to numb himself against these side effects. Lissa had a much healthier way of doing it. She took antidepressants, which completely cut her off from the magic altogether. She hated not being able to work with spirit anymore, but that was an acceptable trade-off for not going crazy.****  
**Lissa nodded.**  
****Well, I thought it was. She apparently disagreed if she was considering this insane experiment. I knew she'd been wanting to try the magic again, but I hadn't really thought she'd go through with it–or that anyone would let her.******

**"I have to check in with Ms. Carmack every day and regularly talk to a counselor." Lissa made a face at this last part, but her overall feelings were still quite upbeat. **

**"I can't wait to see what I can do with Adrian."**

Chrissie glared at Adrian even harder.****

**"Adrian's a bad influence."**

"Am not," Adrian argued.**  
**We ignored him.**  
****"He didn't make me do this, Rose. I chose it." When I didn't answer, she lightly touched my arm. "Hey, listen. Don't worry. I've been so much better, and lots of people are going to have my back."******

**"Everyone except me," I told her wistfully. Across the room, Christian entered through a set of double doors and approached us. The clock read five minutes until the end of lunch. "Oh man. The zero hour is almost here."******

Christian smirked at this.****

**Christian pulled up a chair at our table and flipped it backwards, letting his chin rest on its slatted back.******

"Trying to be all gangster?" I asked dramatically.**  
**Christian laughed.

******He brushed his black hair away from his blue eyes and gave us a smug smile. I felt Lissa's heart lighten at his presence.******

**"I can't wait until this show gets on the road," he said. "You and me are going to have so much fun, Rose. Picking out curtains, doing each other's hair, telling ghost stories…"******

"Are you secretly gay?" Eddie asked, laughing.**  
**Christian growled slightly, making a small fire ball in his hand.**  
**Eddie laughed harder. "I'm not scared of you, bro."

"Hey guys, shut up, we have to go. Meetings and stuff." Lissa said."And you have shifts anyway so let's make a pause and come back later, okay?"

Everyone nodded except Eddie.

"But why do we have to stop at the best part?" Eddie whined.

Chrissie then asked curious. "Why? What happens next?"

"Rose will defend your honor." Eddie said dramatically. I was shocked. No.

Chrissie burst out laughing.

"We don't have time for this," Lissa hissed. "We'll read this later. Let's go." We did as she said but I knew this conversation wasn't over.

We were back in Lissa's room and Chrissie won't shut up.

"Now let me get this straight. You defend _my_ honor?" Chrissie asked for the 10th time. He was really starting to piss me off.

"How many times do I have to fucking say it. Yes. I'll never do it again so calm down" The annoyance in my voice was really noticeable. I think he just continued to piss me off more.

"You – Rose Hathaway – defended _me_ – Christian Ozera?" Haven't I already told him 15 times?

"Yes. Christian you're getting on my fucking nerves."

"You – "

"You just want to read the book or not?" I snarled.

"Okay, let's read," he said to everyone.

"Guys, where's the book?" Lissa asked.

"It should be on the desk." I told her. She looked scared really scared.

I jumped up and hurried up to her. "What's up, Liss?" I asked.

"The book is gone." She replied.

"What?" everyone exclaimed at the same time. I would have laughed at the faces of the other if the situation hadn't been that serious.

"What do you mean with 'it's gone'?" Eddie asked. It can't be gone. I mean technically it can but no. Who would take it? And why? What could someone want with it? I mean it's a book of a 17 years old girl and her friends.

"Someone must have stolen it. And there was a letter for Rose." She said, handing me the letter. I was confused. More confused than ever. Someone stole our book and left a letter for me. Why? And what's about these letters anyway. First I got a letter from a mysterious person called 'Richelle Mead' and now there's another one. Why?

My thoughts were interrupted by Lissa's worried voice. "Rose, is everything all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, everythings fine," I replied and opened the letter:

My dearest Rose,

I've missed you, you know? I never met a person like you. I never met a person that was able to kill my brother. I mean how could you? He was everything to me. EVERYTHING! You're a monster you know that, right? He always helped you. He helped you to free Sonja from her Strigoi existence and found the Dragomir girl for you. And in return, you killed him in cold blood.

Because of YOU, he was in prison. Because of YOU, he suffered and because of YOU, he died. I'll never forgive you for that. I'll kill you for that just like you did with my brother. I hope you suffer the worst pain in your life and I will make you feel guilty for what you did.

You never got in trouble for anything, not even for killing the queen. You killed her, I'm sure about that. But you didn't get punished. No, you could live your glamorous life and be happy but I will make that stop.

I know I can't win a fight on my own, that's for sure. We saw it last time when your boyfriend knocked me out and threw me in the bushes. You thought I'm defenseless. You may still think I'm defenseless but I'm not. I'm Victor's brother for all.

I spied on you, you know? And I saw this book. The book that tells a story about a dhampir girl and her vampire friends. And what do you think, humans will think when they see it? I can tell you. They'll hunt you down and I'll help them. I know you are stronger than me but you're definitively not stronger than all of us together. We will kill your friend one by one and you'll watch it. But I'll give you an opportunity, because I won't be a monster. I'll NEVER be! You come to me defenseless and let me kill you or I will come to you and that will sure not be nice. So, how will you decide? I'm lokking forward to torture you to death. So decide soon.

In hate,

Robert Duru

**What do you think? So, I decided to write a more eventful story than just the gang sitting there and reading… but if Rose survives they'll certainly read the book 'til the end. So should I continue this story or rather go back to the story where the gang just sits and reads the book. Your decision. I like both.**

**Thanks for reading guys, and you know what to do please REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! :))**

**Until now I wrote in RPOV, do you want other POV too? **

**BTW if you are bored I made a poll, so please vote :) **

**Thank you guys**


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